Take Care Outside
by Gabrielle E.

“Come on, you can do better than this!”

Fencing swords clashed together, creating a clanging sound. Hikari parried the strikes made toward her and tried to get a hit of her own in, but every move she made was blocked by her sister’s sword.

“Hikari, come on! You’re better than this, I know it!” her sister, Emika, yelled.

Hikari’s wings moved faster as she rushed at Emika. She swiped her sword left and right, up and down, but there wasn’t a scratch on her. Emika smirked and slashed Hikari’s right arm violently with her sword. Just as Hikari was about to swing her weapon around again, Emika flew higher to the tops of the trees, out of her reach. Her feet brushed the tops of the leaves as she waited, smiling triumphantly.

Hikari’s gaze shifted ever so slightly to the woman watching them. She glared angrily at her and then flew up to where Emika was floating.

“E-Emika,” she laughed, putting on a smile, “w-wait for m-me!”

Their mother supervised their match, watching as her daughters flew around all the leaves and other trees. She sighed and got up from the leaf she had been using as a chair, deciding that she had seen enough of the match.

“That’s enough for today! Come on back now, girls!” she called, motioning for them to put their swords away and get ready for breakfast. Hikari and Emika obeyed and let their wings carry them back to their tree.

“Hikari, what was up with you today? Normally, you can at least put up a decent fight with me. Is anything wrong?” Emika asked, tossing a strand of her long, red hair over her shoulder. Hikari shook her head no.

“Princess Emika,” a servant came up to them in the hallway and tugged on Hikari’s arm. “The King would like to see you.”

Hikari laughed softly. The servant boy got her and Emika confused again. Sure, they both had red hair, green eyes, and they dressed alike, but their personalities were different. Hikari was shy, introverted, and quiet. Emika was loud, brash, outgoing, and she loved to explore outside.

Emika pushed Hikari’s shoulder playfully. “I’m pretty sure he means you,” she said. Hikari sighed, trudging to the throne room. Whatever her father wanted, it could be either a good thing or a bad thing. The only thing Hikari dreaded was the fact that her mother would be there. Her mother loved to scold her, it seemed, and would call her down several times a week to tell her what she was doing wrong and never telling what she could do to improve. Oh, how Hikari hated her mother!

Emika leaned against the wooden windowpane, watching as the rain pounded against the window. Her body suddenly shook with a raging fit of coughs before she proceeded to stare out the window again. She had been feeling a bit sick lately.

Plip, plop! Plip plop! The rain’s music almost put her to sleep until a sharp knock sounded at her door.

“Princess Emika? Your needlepoint lessons start soon!” the voice of a servant sounded muffled through the door. Emika frowned. She’d rather be outside playing in the rain than be forced to do dumb, pointless, mind-numbing needlepointing! But, she didn’t have a choice. If she didn’t take the lessons, her mother would reprimand her, saying it was “against the etiquette required by royalty” to not take them. Her mother was not a person to argue with, and she would surely get mad if Emika didn’t get to her lessons on time. She grabbed her needle, thread, and thimble before heading out the door.

"Hikari? Come in.” It was her mother’s venomously sweet voice; a tone she would often use as a ruse when in the same room as her husband. Hikari entered the throne room timidly, feeling a nervous chill as she walked through the empty room and up to the area in which her parents were sitting.

"Y-Yes?” Hikari stuttered softly before clamping her mouth shut. If there was one thing that aggravated both her parents as well as her sister, it was her stuttering. She heard her mother sigh heavily and her father clear his throat.

“Hikari, do you know why we called you here?” her father asked. Hikari shook her head.

“W-What did y-you call me for?” she inquired, her voice low and shaky. Was this about the fencing match? Did her mother tell her father how bad she did?

“Tell me, Hikari,” her mother almost demanded, “do you remember the rhyme we used to tell you before you and Emika would go outside when you were little?”

Hikari nodded. That foreboding rhyme was scary enough to keep her inside, but not Emika.

“Take care outside, my darlings, for outside danger lurks,

Stay within our kingdom walls, and surely, you won’t be hurt.

Place one foot out, dear faeries, one foot is all it takes

For dangers from the outside world to settle within our gates.

Take two feet beyond our boundaries and you’d better make a turn,

For if you don’t, the price you’ll pay is what you’ll surely learn.

T-The…”

She stopped, unable to finish that horrid poem. It scared her just recite it and they expected her to want to remember it all?

“The beauty of our withered land can only come again…” the Queen started.

“If one princess comes back to rule while the other one is slain,” the King and Queen finished their poem together, staring blankly at their younger daughter, ignoring her teary eyes.

“Stop it…” Hikari said, covering her ears, “Stop it, stop it, stop it! I don’t want to hear any more of that wretched poem!”

Almost instantly after, her quiet nature took over again. “W-What does that have to d-do with w-why you called m-me here?”

The King and Queen were quiet for a second before they started reciting the poem once more, only to be interrupted several times by Hikari’s screams.

Emika coughed loudly, her body shaking a bit before she resumed with poking her needle in and out of her fabric. Ever since her fencing match with Hikari, she’d been doing nothing but coughing and sneezing.

“Princess Emika, are you alright? You’re looking rather ill today,” her teacher noticed. Emika’s eyes were a bit red from lack of sleep. Her face was a slightly paler and she was moving rather slowly.

“I’m fine, Miss. Really, I am. I just didn’t get a lot of sleep last night. I was up all night because Hikari had a bad dream and couldn’t sleep, and I had to take care of her,” Emika lied. She would be strong and get through this; she wouldn’t let anyone know what was wrong with her. She coughed one more time before packing up her stuff and walking out the door. She’d had enough boredom for one day. All she wanted to do was sleep.

Yes, sleep…Sleep well, little girl. Fall into a blissful sleep. A sleep that will isolate you from the world, where no one can bother you, her inner voice whispered silkily in her head.

Yes, sleep would be good right now. Emika’s vision was blurry and she stumbled down the steps to her sleeping chamber. She could almost imagine her soft bed, her fluffy pillow, and her feather-light sheets as they lay on top of her, shielding her body from the cold air. Her room was so…so comfortable.

Her vision grew darker, and her body threatened to shut down. What was happening to her? She wasn’t that sick was she? She was almost there. Just a few more steps.

Four more. Her room door was edging ever closer as she slowly descended the steps.

Three.

Two.

One more step.

But she collapsed, her consciousness leaving her body, sleep reigning in its place.

“Princess Emika!” She faintly heard a voice yell before she ultimately shut down.

“Hikari, my child, calm down!” the King tried to quiet his daughter’s screams.

“No, I won’t calm down! Not until you stop reminding me about that horrible poem! Not until you tell me what’s wrong! I won’t calm down, I won’t be quiet, and I won’t-”

“Your Majesties! Your Majesties!” a servant girl came barging in, fear and anxiety written across her pale face.

“What’s wrong, Mina?” the Queen asked. It wasn’t normal for a servant to come rushing in during their discussions. What was wrong?

“It’s Princess Emika! I found her out on the steps to her room. She’s collapsed, ma’am, collapsed!” Mina wailed, tears flowing freely down her face.

“E-Emika?” Hikari stuttered, worried. Emika had been coughing a bit after their match that morning, but she hadn’t thought it was anything serious.

“I don’t know what to do, Your Majesty,” Mina said, turning to the Queen, “I don’t know what to do! I’ve tried calling her name and shaking her, but she won’t wake up! Is she dead? Please tell me she’s not dead!” Mina cried.

“No, she’s not dead, Mina,” the Queen said reassuringly. “Yet. But if time goes on and she’s still in this state, she will die.”

“N-No!” Hikari shouted weakly, tears threatening to fall down her face as well. “She can’t die! She won’t! M-Mina, take me to where s-she c-collapsed, please?” Hikari begged.

Mina nodded, wiping her tears away. Instructing Hikari to follow her, she led her through the winding staircase that led from the throne room to Emika and Hikari’s rooms. Sure enough, Emika had not moved. She was still there lying on the stairs, her eyes closed, her lips pulled into an almost content smile.

“E-Emi!” Hikari whispered quietly, kneeling down to her twin’s side. She rolled her onto her back and looked for any rising or falling of her chest. She wasn’t breathing!

What happened to her?

Emi…wake up. Please, for me? Hikari wished, taking her sister’s hand in her own and squeezing it tightly.

“Princess Hikari, I need you to move please. We need to take Princess Emika to the sickbay,” Mina said politely as she picked the unconscious girl up from the cold ground. Hikari followed subconsciously, watching as her sister’s limp arms swayed and jolted when Mina started up the steps.

Please…wake up.

“Kari? Why are you here?”

Hikari looked up from her spot on Emika’s bed in the sickbay. She was awake, finally!

“E-Emi! Y-You’re awake!” she cried, pulling her twin into a tight hug.

Emika coughed again before leaning back on her pillow.

“Where am I?” she asked curiously. It took her a few minutes to realize that she was in the sickbay, and she told Hikari to ignore her question. Her head was pounding and she felt terrible. She wanted to go back to sleep, but it made her happy to see Hikari’s smiling face.

“Hikari, come here please and let Emika get some rest,” Emika heard their mother’s order. She smiled at Hikari, silently telling her to go on. Hikari left reluctantly.

“W-What is it?” she asked hesitantly. “W-What’s wrong with E-Emi?”

Her mother looked at her and then toward the sickbay door. “She’s sick, Hikari. Dangerously sick,” she replied, a look of sadness in her eyes. Hikari cocked her head.

“How did she get sick?” Hikari inquired nervously. She had an idea, but she didn’t exactly want to be right.

“‘Place one foot out, dear faeries, one foot is all it takes… for dangers from the outside world to settle within our gates.’ Think about it, Hikari. I was watching your match today. When Emika flew up higher today, her right foot brushed the outside of the leaves of the treetops. One foot was all it took for her to catch the plague that our kingdom is kept from,” her mother said.

Hikari looked through the window of the sickbay door and saw that her sister was sleeping once more.

“B-But, can w-we do something to cure her?” she asked innocently. Her mother growled under her breath.

“Think about it, you stupid girl. If I said that our kingdom is protected from this plague, then how could we possibly know anything about curing it?!” the Queen walked away muttering and massaging her temples with her fingers. She turned to her daughter one last time before going to her room and spoke.

“Go to bed, Hikari. You can check on your sister in the morning.”

Hikari nodded and went to her room.

Emi…I’m sorry I didn’t notice you were sick. Forgive me. She closed her eyes and went to sleep.

The next morning, Hikari walked back to the door, peering through the small window. Her eyes widened when she saw that Emika wasn’t there! She was gone!

“Emika!”

Hikari burst through the door and started searching frantically. She threw open closet doors, looked under shelves and under the bed, and she even checked Emika’s bedroom. But she wasn’t there. Where could she have gone? She wouldn’t have walked off, not in her current condition.

“Emika, where are you?” she whispered quietly. She could feel tears pricking the back of her eyes, threatening to fall down her cheeks. She slumped down to the floor, sobbing heavily. She’s gone. Gone.

She heard something crunch under her weight and she stopped crying, wiping her tears away in case someone found her there.

It was a note written in a scrawled, messy cursive that Hikari recognized as Emika’s. A drop of blood tainted the edge and Hikari gasped sharply. What had happened? This note, she hoped, would help her at least a little bit. She traced her finger over each word as she read it:

Hikari,

I know you were probably sobbing hysterically a few minutes ago, I could feel your sorrow. But don’t cry, Kari, don’t cry for me. You couldn’t help what happened. I’ve been captured, that’s all I know. My captors are from the kingdom of Carinth, the kingdom a few miles from us. They say that we should know the pain of having a withered land. Both their princesses have died and they want both of us to die as well. Kari listen to me, stay where you are, don’t come and look for me. As long as you’re alive, no one in the kingdom would have to suffer. I know that as sick as I am, I’ll probably die before I can escape, but you’re safest as home. I don’t want you to get hurt.

Love,
Emika

Hikari’s eyes started to water again. The Carinthians weren’t normally this ruthless, this bitter.

But the death of two princesses whom you’ve watched grow could drive anyone crazy… Hikari thought, once again fighting tears.

“Emi…” she took the letter and put it in her pocket, getting up off the floor and sitting back on the bed.

Was Emika really going to die?

One thing was for sure, she would if Hikari didn’t go after her. She was about to walk out the door, when a pang in her heart stopped her.

“Kari listen to me, stay where you are, don’t come and look for me.”

“She told me not to look for her. How am I supposed to feel safe if she’s out there?” she whispered, “I can’t, not while she’s dying, not while she’s sick, not while she’s away from me. I’m going after her, whether she wants me to or not.”

Hikari brushed the pocket the letter was in with her hand, still pondering if she should heed Emika’s warning. Shaking her head, she told herself her safety meant nothing if Emika was in danger as well.

It didn’t take her long to pack; mostly all she needed was food, water, and some extra clothes. After she got all that, she looked the tree-castle over one last time before lifting up off the ground and flying away. But as she reached the leafy boundaries of her kingdom, that same hurtful feeling stopped her once more.

That stupid rhyme…would it mean that Hikari would get sick, too?

But, compared to Emika’s situation, did being sick even match up to the predicament of being sick and kidnapped? No, it wasn’t even close.

As if to plague her even more, her mother’s voice entered her head, chanting one line incessantly:

“Place one foot out, dear faeries, one foot is all it takes

For dangers from the outside world to settle within our gates...”

Almost defying her mother, who wasn’t even there to watch her, Hikari stuck one foot,

just one, outside the boundary. She knew she shouldn’t have, and she could feel something settling inside of her, but she hovered above the ground again and flew away from her home, not even bothering to look back at the land that was slowly starting to die.

“Take two feet beyond our boundaries and you’d better make a turn,

For if you don’t, the price you’ll pay is what you’ll surely learn.”

Plip, plop, plip, plop… the rain pounded against the windowpane as Emika stared outside, her face pale, eyes red, hands shaky.

Rain…will I ever see the rain again? Will I ever see my home again? Or Mom and Dad? Or Hikari? Already, the negative thoughts of death had started to enter her head. She shifted her bounded hands into a more comfortable position and sighed softly. She could feel Hikari’s frantic and worrying aura growing closer.

“Hikari, I know you’re coming anyway, but when will you be here?”

“B-But, Emika, I’m already h-here,”

Hikari’s voice rang from the other side of the room. For a moment, Emika’s face lit up and she looked at the other side. Standing there, smiling shyly like she always did, was Hikari. But, Emika noticed something different in her speech and her face.

“Stop trying to trick me, you disgusting Nymph, Hikari doesn’t have blue eyes, your morphing skills are far from perfect. And, she almost never calls me Emika, she uses my nickname,” Emika smiled triumphantly as the nymph resumed its regular form, frowning slightly.

“Well, aren’t you the smart one? But, how long is it going to take for you to learn that your precious little sister might be dead already? She wouldn’t last an hour in the forest surrounding this place,” the Nymph said, its voice dripping with wickedness, “and on top of that, it’s raining. You two can’t fly in the rain can you?”

Emika’s smile vanished. She could almost picture Hikari walking, the rain slowly rising, drowning her. That’s what she hated about their land, when it rained, it flooded. Always. Hikari would surely drown out there.

Kari…please…take care outside. Don’t die out there.

“Ah!” Hikari screamed as she was knocked backwards. She sat up, almost waist-deep in water. A Spectrun towered over her, its gleaming silver eyes narrowed. The Spectrun grabbed her with its ghostly, wispy arm and held her tightly, letting her squirm until she was too tired to move anymore.

“L-Let me go,” she managed to say through a cough, hesitating to pull out her fencing sword. What good would it do for her? She could hardly move anyway.

The Spectrun laughed and stayed put. It could hold her until the water rose to its head level, then it would let her go to drown. It felt a stinging lash on its hand and dropped the faerie into the water. Hikari swam to the top where she could breathe, and slowly started towards the giant tower that was visible through the dwindling trees.

“Well, you spent all day worrying, haven’t you? Would it help if I show you your home since both of you have left?” the Nymph laughed and pulled out a crystal ball. It glowed for a minute and then its picture finally became clear. Her home surely was dying, just like the rhyme she remembered had said. The flowers were wilted, trees were graying and rotting, and leaves were falling, disintegrating as they hit the ground.

“The beauty of our withered land can only come again…”

“No. Wait…where are my parents?” Emika asked, worried. The Nymph laughed, throwing its crystal ball over to the other side of the room.

“Your parents, my dear, are just as sick as you are, and they will die just like you,” it chuckled. Another coughing fit escaped Emika’s deathly pale lips and racked her body as the Nymph advanced toward her, a sword in its hand. She remembered that her hands were tied, so she couldn’t fight. But, her brain was screaming at her to fight, break through the ropes and fight, but she stood there, awaiting death. It would certainly be better than being this sick. I can’t stand this. All the coughing, shaking, sleeping. I can’t take it anymore, she thought.

“Goodbye, Princess.”

Emika closed her eyes tightly. Here it comes…

“E-Emi, move!”

Emika felt a force push her out of the way. She opened her eyes to see green orbs almost identical to hers.

“Kari, I told you not to come,” Emika scolded. But her expression softened as she saw the sad look on Hikari’s face. She was obviously worried about her. Hikari coughed before carefully untying the ropes that bound Emika’s hands.

“Guess you’re sick as well, aren’t you?” Emika asked as the ropes fell. Hikari nodded, secretly wondering if she was going to die here or not.

“You!” the Nymph pointed at Hikari with a long, bony finger. “You’re clever, I’ll give you that, defeating my mistress’s Spectrun. But not to worry, you shall not escape this place alive. I wasn’t expecting you to come, but that just saves me the trouble of going to find you,” it raised its sword once more, the tip gleaming in the light. Both girls noticed the purple liquid dripping from the blade. It was Quasmir, one of the most dangerous poisons. If it penetrated the skin, the ill-fated person would die in a minute. They would have to be careful.

“Hikari,” Emika whispered.

“Yes?” Hikari replied just as softly.

“When I tell you to, I want you to run as fast as you can toward the door as a distraction. Then, I’ll grab the sword, okay?”

Hikari nodded and waited for her sister to give the signal.

“Now!”

Hikari ran as fast as she could. The door was just a bit farther and she could feel the Nymph quiet footsteps behind her. Emika, hurry, I don’t how long I can keep this up.

“You’re not getting away so easily,” the Nymph snarled, holding its poison-tipped sword up. Emika, who was behind the Nymph, reached out for the sword. It was just within her reach when it left the Nymph’s hand! Why?

It had thrown the sword.

Hikari stood near the door, frozen in fear. She couldn’t move. To make things worse, it was aimed at her heart. That way, even if the poison made it through her body and she managed to heal herself, she would die anyway.

Emi, she thought, I’m sorry I couldn’t save you. Forgive me…

She closed her eyes and waited to feel the pain. But…it never came. She heard a scream, but it was not her who had screamed.

“If one princess comes back to rule while the other one is slain”

It was Emika.

“E-Emi. W-Why?” Hikari stuttered, tears coming to her eyes once more.

Emika smiled. “You saved me once, so now I’m returning the favor, Hikari.”

Hikari allowed the tears to flow freely down her face when she saw the sword had caught her sister in the back, just below her heart.

She had jumped in front of it!

“Emika, you didn’t have to do this…not for me,” she cried, giving Emika a hug. She held her tightly; she didn’t want her sister to leave.

“Goodbye, Kari. I’m sorry it had to end this way. Listen to me; I want you to go back to the kingdom. It’s the only way things can be the same again,” Emika pleaded, slowly counting the seconds in her head. 10 seconds left.

Hikari shook her head. “It won’t be the same. You won’t be there Emi.”

Emika tried to reassure her with another smile. “It’s okay. I’ll still be with you. You’ll still remember me. I’ll be in your heart, Kari. There, I’ll always be with you.”

Hikari cried harder.

“There, I’ll always be with you.”

Those had been Emika’s last words before she’d left. Hikari coughed a bit before falling to her knees, sobbing.Why? Why her? Why not me instead? Oh, Emi, I miss you.

She stayed there, letting her tears fall to the ground. Between her crying and constant coughing, she was having a hard time breathing. No, she couldn’t die here; she was just a few steps away from her home. Just a few steps. She stood up, walking slowly, taking one step after the other.

Four more. Another step.

Three.

Two more.

Just one more step. Her coughing became harder to control now and she fell again, her hand to her chest.

Just one more step she thought.

But then she collapsed, her eyes closed, her breathing was slowly ceasing.

“I told you I’d always be with you. Now, I’m here to take care of you”

A wind whirled around Hikari’s limp body, holding her up and whisking her away to the tree-castle.